‘To’ is the second album release by P Jørgensen, a sound artist and composer for ensemble, theatre and film based in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Exploring the relationship between composition and chance, Jørgensen created the music for this release by drawing upon a palette of acoustic instrumentation and field recordings which were then transformed via computer processing into luminous textures, crystalline tones and vibrant ambient drones.

‘To’ is divided into two clearly defined sections across its 30 minute running time. Broad swathes of sound, juxtaposed chords and miniature crescendos during the first half give way to a more introspective and peaceful denouement as the album draws to an end.

Whilst the running time of ‘To’ may seem surprisingly concise for an album of this genre, Jørgensen’s purposeful and streamlined approach to composition ensures that not a single second goes to waste. By focusing on timbre and texture, these distinctive tracks establish vibrant atmospheres which seem to take on the properties of a morning's fog or the diffuse glow of reflected light.

i think LP is doing a great job lately, that Brittle CD may end up as one of my very favorites of the year. i like Celer's more quiet synthesized discs, like Four Pieces and a/O Nacreous Clouds, beautiful stuff!

Crikey, it's been a busy one this week! Not only is the P Jørgensen cd 'To' now on sale, but i'm also taking pre-orders on the upcoming Celer 7” 'Mane Blooms'.

LP029 – Celer – Mane Blooms 7”

‘Mane Blooms’ is the very first vinyl release by Celer, the husband and wife duo Will Long and Danielle Baquet-Long

Seen by Celer as an 'outdoor' companion piece to ‘Brittle’, the duo’s album recently released on Low Point, the music on ‘Mane Blooms’ was created by multiple layers of cello and piano, which were then processed and played back at differing speeds. Also contained within the tracks are field recordings taken whilst Dani rode horses along the Californian coastline, a weekly pursuit that acted as a form of self-therapy and enjoyment.

With the music composed specifically with the vinyl medium in mind, the two sides of the record act as a mirror image. For the B side, Celer approached the music of the first track in reverse, inverting the structure and musical motifs established within the first piece. Altering the playback speed of the vinyl brings previously hidden textures to the fore, providing each of the tracks with a new identity and a different reflection of memory.

To listen to sound samples and to pre-order a copy, please head to http://www.low-point.com/LP029.html. Strictly limited one-off pressing of 400 copies. Copies are expected to ship the week beginning 12th October 09.

Improvements to the Low Point web site;I've made (what I hope are) a couple of improvements to the Low Point website. The first is that a Paypal shopping cart is now in operation, making it a lot easier to make multiple purchases.It is now also be possible to preview releases in their entirety via Sound Cloud streaming audio. This is something that I intend to roll-out for the entire Low Point catalogue (including out of print releases) within the next couple of months, though the three most recent releases can be previewed right now.

‘Mane Blooms’ is the very first vinyl release by Celer, the husband and wife duo Will Long and Danielle Baquet-Long

Seen by Celer as an 'outdoor' companion piece to ‘Brittle’, the duo’s album recently released on Low Point, the music on ‘Mane Blooms’ was created by multiple layers of cello and piano, which were then processed and played back at differing speeds. Also contained within the tracks are field recordings taken whilst Dani rode horses along the Californian coastline, a weekly pursuit that acted as a form of self-therapy and enjoyment.

With the music composed specifically with the vinyl medium in mind, the two sides of the record act as a mirror image. For the B side, Celer approached the music of the first track in reverse, inverting the structure and musical motifs established within the first piece. Altering the playback speed of the vinyl brings previously hidden textures to the fore, providing each of the tracks with a new identity and a different reflection of memory.

‘Half Light' is a stop-gap mini-release before my next full length album which will hopefully see a release sometime in 2010.

The track is divided into two parts. The first half is a piece played on lapsteel that was originally intended to appear on a compilation album which never occured. The second half is a lightly processed field recording of wind chimes from my neighbours garden.

This release is dedicated to Dani Baquet-Long, who passed away in July 2009.

‘Glisten’ is the first collaborative release by Tim Catlin, a guitarist and sound artist based in Melbourne, Australia and Machinefabriek, the nom de plume of Rutger Zuydervelt from Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

Whilst researching information on prepared guitar, Zuydervelt discovered the work of Tim Catlin, most notably his album ‘Radio Ghosts’ (released on 23five in 2007). Intrigued by Catlin’s approach towards mechanically prepared guitar and the engaging sound world created by this unassuming expertise, a partnership was soon set in motion.

For the release, Catlin made initial recordings drawing upon a wide range of approaches including guitar preparations, customized and abused effects through to more 'conventional' picking. These tracks were then sent to Zuydervelt for the addition of extra sounds and overdubs through to final editing and sequencing.

With both artists’ sharing a passion for developing upon the minutiae of the guitar, ‘Glisten’ is an immersive album of slowly unfurling sound layers, deeply embedded drones and acute harmonic gestures. Throughout the running time, a palpable sense of playfulness is present, allowing the prepared guitar process to determine the course of action. Through minor touches and sleights of hand, fleeting vibrations are produced which are capable of both overwhelming intensity and pure sonic transcendence.

Spread across two cds with a total running time of nearly two hours, ‘A Young Person’s Guide To…’ is a stunning collection of recordings from New York based minimalist composer and sound artist Kyle Bobby Dunn.

Four tracks on the first disc originally appeared as the download only album ‘Fervency’, released by the Moodgadget label in 2009. Impressed by Dunn’s sensitive and world-wise compositions, it was felt that the music deserved to be released on a physical format and expanded upon with a second disc containing an additional 60 minutes of music gathered from the same period as the ‘Fervency’ recordings.

Utilising an instrumental palette of guitar, strings and brass, often played by classically trained musicians drafted in on the spur of the moment, the sounds of these sessions were recorded as Dunn dictated and then reworked via computer processing into spine-tingling soundscapes.

Dunn's compositions here are fully rich in timbre, painterly, hopelessly romantic and haunting; balanced between a wash of pure sound and an ornate yet subtle dance of classical instrumentation. Occupying a truly cinematic scope, these pieces can transport the listener from the deepest and most forgotten landscapes to the furthest recesses of time.

Not one but two new Low Point releases are out now! Here are the details;

LP032 - Kogumaza - Sevens b/w Mara - 7" Coloured Vinyl Single

Kogumaza make music that marries the sound of fuzzed-out psychedelic garage-rock to an ambient aesthetic, placing it somewhere between the infinite repetition of Moondog and the spiritual throb of Lungfish.

Formed in early 2009, the members' desire to break away from impersonal documentation-style presentation led them to develop an idiosyncratic sound and style that relies on the very free and loose manipulation of tones. Allowing what is basically a rock trio to expand and willingly lose control of their own sound in order for it to become greater and more beautiful than the sum of its parts. They are a small but mighty force.

There are 2 songs on this seven inch. "Sevens" explores the cyclical nature of the number in dense, spiralling patterns of echo and "Mara" (named after the Scandinavian name for the Sleep Paralysis phenomenon) slowly unwinds and morphs between shimmering wah'd harps and mesmeric, insistent heaviness.

Having established themselves performing with Zomes, Earth, Growing, Spectrum and many more, this 7" accompanies another on the Lancashire & Somerset label (home to Enablers and Nathan Bell) taken from the same recording sessions at the band's own Way-Out Is The Way Out studio.

'Verona’ is the second album by Spartak, the Australian duo comprising of Shoeb Ahmad (guitar, electronics) and Evan Dorrian (drums, percussion). It follows on from their well received debut, ‘Tales From The Colony Room’, released by hellosQuare.

Whilst touring in 2008, Spartak decided to move away from the washed-out ambience of their debut to incorporate a looser approach into their live performances. This included leaving behind the responsibility and limitations of playing just one instrument each, enabling the creation and exploration of new sounds within their repertoire.

Building upon the experience gained from these live shows and influenced by the experimental attitude of post-punk bands such as This Heat, ‘Verona’ was recorded and improvised at a rapid pace over the course of two days in late January 2009. The ‘anything goes’ approach adopted during these sessions included Shoeb's use of no-input mixing board, four track manipulation and analogue pedal processing, with Evan embellishing many of the pieces with treated percussion, junk and field recordings. In a first for Spartak, there are also guest appearances by Joseph McKee and Lucrecia Perez, who contribute vocals to ‘Sleepstalker’ and ‘Second-Half Clouded’ respectively.

Forming a near-perfect composite of high concept sound art and cathartic rock abandon, the resulting album is one that eschews traditional song forms without aimless meandering. Building upon walls of sound, a keen sense of melody is prevalent amongst blasts of noise and scattershot percussion, creating a statement of intent that is difficult to ignore.

A couple of write-ups for the Kogumaza 7" have appeared already. From Norman Records;

'This is pretty sweet. Its on ruby red vinyl. It has a plain sleeve. It makes me want to smoke a bowl too*. This is the new project from members of Wolves! of Greece, Lords and Little Girl With Cherries. I thought it was gonna be a blues/grunge work out, but its not of that ilk. It's a lo-fi bong fest that sounds really dense, with twin Gibsons set to stun, and pounding thick sounding drums. I like the pace of this song. Its a bit like listening to music in a bath full of treacle. I'm looking forward to hearing more from these characters, and I think you should too.....'

& Smallfish;

'Two hefty tracks here from Kogumaza. Mixing up drone, doom, guitars, psychedelia and abstract electronic experimentalism, the resulting sound is dramatic, gritty and full of power and both tracks lull you with quieter intros before ramping up the levels of grunge and distortion. Although this is all about menace and mood you can really hear a certain sense of the artists holding back rather than just going into a full-on noise assault. Quite a different release for Low Point in some ways, and yet you can hear the overall feel of it sitting comfortably with some of the other output. – It’s certainly good to hear another aspect to this always excellent label. Comes on red vinyl and is a limited edition. '

Following on from releases on Home Normal and Under The Spire in 2009, ‘Slow, With Pages Of Fluttering Interference’ is the third album from UK composer and sound designer Christopher Hipgrave.

Over the course of 42 minutes, Hipgrave’s sound is one of gentle manipulation, shimmering melodies and an exquisite sense of indistinct fragility. Whilst multiple layers of texture and tone are the main focal point of this album, background hisses, pops and crackles can also be heard which all seem to emanate from some strange electronic machine.

It’s this attention to detail that provides ‘Slow…’ with such warmth and humanity, creating a perfect balance against the structure of the music. Each piece is formed using a bare minimum of sound sources, which are then explored in depth, allowing the tracks to breathe, morph or run until their natural conclusion, resulting in an album of sublime intricate beauty.

On sale for £7 plus shipping to your part of the world. Ltd Edition of 400 copies. To listen to excerpts from the album and to purchase a copy, please head to http://www.low-point.com/LP037.html

Following on from several well received cdr releases under the Vakhchav alias on labels such as Abandon Ship, Blackest Rainbow and Small Doses, ‘Transmission Hue’ marks the first widely available full length cd from Brooklyn based multi-media artist Nickolas Mohanna.

On ‘Transmission Hue’, Mohanna's tools of guitar, modular analogue synthesis and electronics are used to create clouds of cosmic krautrock-inspired drone. Eschewing the constrictions of software programming, Mohanna’s intuitive hardware approach only works to enhance these synth progressions. Subtle tones work their way up from the depths, manoeuvring themselves to the forefront of the sonic canvas. Diverging then converging within the stereo field, they don't remain there long before they are quickly devoured by the somewhat blissful haze.

Much like his peers operating within analogue synth music, Mohanna manages to envelope his archaic source sounds with a forward thinking sensibility that references classic kosmische whilst demonstrating a modern outlook, allowing him to avoid the clichés and offer a fresh perspective on the genre.

CD, packaged in a full colour digipak. On sale for £7 plus shipping to your part of the world. Ltd Edition of 300 copies. To listen to excerpts from the album and to purchase a copy, please head to http://www.low-point.com/LP036.html

In other news, due to an unprecedented number of cock-ups by the pressing plant, the vinyl version of 'Of The Sea And Shore' by Gareth Hardwick has been cancelled. CD version to follow next month.

To order at the sale prices, please send an e-mail to gareth [at] low-point [dot] com stating what item(s) you’d like and where in the world you live. I’ll then calculate a total price for you including shipping costs.

After some serious delays, test pressing frustrations and heartache, my new album 'Of The Sea And Shore' is now available to buy!Unfortunately, the vinyl version of this had to be canceled, so the album is now in cd format. Better late than never eh?

Here are the details;

LP035 - Gareth Hardwick - Of The Sea And Shore - cd

‘Of The Sea And Shore’ is the third album (and the first full length consisting entirely of new material since his debut release in 2006) by Nottingham musician Gareth Hardwick.

Inspired by visits to remote coastal locations around the UK, Gareth has created an album that draws upon the cyclical nature of the tides and the forces of nature that regulate the oceans.

Recorded over a four month period during the winter of 2009/10, Gareth's characteristic long form guitar drones have been enhanced by a widened palette of sounds consisting of different instrumentation, effects and recording techniques. Cymbals and chimes supply a percussive undercurrent, whilst radio static, dictaphone field recordings and harmonium are used to add further texture.

As a result, through subtle layering and delivery, 'Of The Sea And Shore' is perhaps Gareth's most accomplished and focused work to date. Over the course of two beautiful long form tracks, a tangible sense of time and place is presented to the listener, evoking grainy recollections of forgotten landscapes.

CD, packaged in a full colour digipak. Mastered by Taylor Deupree. Limited edition of 300 copies only. On sale for £7 plus shipping to your part of the world. To listen to sound samples and to order a copy, please head to http://www.low-point.com/LP035.html.